Pandora's Box
by JennMel
Summary: The events of Adrift were painful to everyone, not just Gwen; the others were just used to it. She was not the only one who cared. Jack watched. Ianto was quiet. Owen accepted it. But all wished they didn't have to know the reality of human life.


Author Notes: This story is set towards the end of Adrift, and came to me randomly when I watched the episode for a second time. It mainly focuses on the characters of Jack, Owen and Ianto, especially seeing as they got very little coverage in the episode. This oneshot tries to tackle Jack's feelings towards Ianto and Owen as members of his team, and especially focuses on the major turnabouts that Owen's character has undergone since the first season, and how he's changed so much in the second, as well as the themes and asides that were mentioned in Adrift itself. This will be following the canon of a Jack/Ianto pairing, but nothing graphic or in your face :) Hope you enjoy!

**Pandora's Box**

Owen sighed, watching Jack as he strode into the Hub with purpose, straight to his office. Ianto flinched almost unnoticeably, while Tosh frowned, "Wonder what's up with him?"

Owen didn't answer, noting that Gwen still hadn't come in that day, while Ianto muttered some denial of knowledge before striding off a little too purposefully towards the archives. Owen shook his head, "Be right back, Tosh."

The woman nodded, failing miserably in concealing her curiosity. Owen wandered down in the direction Ianto had gone; he should have seen this coming, should have that known Ianto's feelings on the issue, coupled with the stubbornness of both Jack and Gwen, would have made things go bad. Tosh never knew; Owen had only found out after he had replaced Suzie as Jack's second in command, the position he had held until he had gone off the rails and shot his boss in the head, and a position he wasn't too bothered about losing. He heard clanging and scrapping of metal as draws of filing cabinets were opened swiftly and closed with even more vigour. "Ianto?" He called out; this place had always confused his sense of direction.

The noises stopped. "What do you want Owen?" Ianto's tired form appeared from behind one of the shelves.

"You told her, didn't you?" Owen folded his arms, leaning casually against a cabinet.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't give me that bollocks, Ianto. The three of us are the only ones who know about what goes on over on that island, and while I sure as hell would never tell Gwen, there is even less chance that Jack would have."

"She deserved to know!" The outburst was expected, but always made Owen jump slightly, coming from the normally so placid and dry-witted office boy.

Owen sighed again, "That doesn't mean she wanted to know."

"Those people are all alone over there! They are scared, and alone." Owen watched with a kind of detached pity as Ianto vented his feelings, feelings he could not admit in front of Jack, the man who had set up the facility in the first place. "Their families will never know what happened! Those people spent all their energies, trying to get home, away from whatever hell they were seeing, experiencing, and we go and lock them away! Isolate them!"

Ianto was breathing hard. Owen hadn't reacted throughout the tirade, "Are you done?"

Ianto shot the doctor a death glare, "Yes. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Owen snorted at the badly placed insult, "Ianto, I'm dead. If anything, I'm one of the few people who can relate to them. You have to accept what you cannot change. They are not the same people as they were when they left this world."

"Jack shouldn't lock them away."

"And being locked in the vaults was a better existence? Come on Ianto, you're the one who discovered the reports, or you'd be as in the dark as Tosh. You know how they were treated, how they were ignored."

Ianto didn't answer. He couldn't, not really. Unlike Owen, he had never been to the facility. When Owen had found out from Jack about what the Rift did, he had demanded to see the people, claiming it was his right as Torchwood's doctor. Jack hadn't argued, but Ianto could remember his reluctance. When Owen returned, he remembered how pale the doctor had been, how much more rude and biting he had been in his comments towards Ianto and Tosh, and especially Gwen, in all her innocence, back then at the beginning. He couldn't be sure, but something Jack had said to Ianto after the incident with the ghosts and Bernie Harris had suggested that not all of the doctor's reaction had come from what Owen had felt that day under the bridge. It was as if that one visit to the island had shown Owen the reality of the world, and had sent him spiralling down to the point where Ianto had been forced to shoot him, and Owen had shot Jack. That year had been Owen's worst at Torchwood, hell, it had been the worst for all of them. Finally, Ianto looked up and met Owen's calm eyes, "If anyone can change their fate, it will be Gwen."

Owen looked at the other man closely, "True. But she won't." And he turned away, leaving Ianto to his thoughts.

Owen walked back up, deep in thought, barely registering Tosh's bid of goodnight as she headed home. Jack leant against the doorframe of his office, "Hey, Owen. Wait." Owen turned, fixing his pensive stare on Jack. "You talk to Ianto?"

"You talk to Gwen?" Owen shot back bluntly.

Jack smiled weakly, "Guess we'll have to draw straws to see who tells Tosh." He joked, but the oppressive mood that Owen's unreadable eyes had conjured into the air was too strong to be dissipated by words. "She's taking Nikki to see Jonah tomorrow."

Owen's eyes slid shut, as if he was swearing silently, "You're letting her?" Jack nodded, "It'll kill them both. And will destroy Gwen."

Jack shook his head, "She's strong, and she wanted to know. Rhys will help her to the other side. What would you have me do, retcon the lot of them? Act as if Jonah was never born?"

Owen shrugged, unable to give Jack an answer. He turned away, "I'm going home to bed."

Jack watched as Owen walked down the steps, calling after him, "You don't sleep anymore, Owen."

Owen stopped short, hand resting lightly on the railing, "What are you suggesting, Captain?"

Jack walked slowly down to join Owen at the bottom of the steps, close enough so that Owen had no choice but to look into Jack's eyes, "You can't help those people anymore than Gwen can."

"Who says I'm going over there?" Owen pushed past his boss, grabbing his bag from under his desk.

"Because you're still guilty." Owen froze in his tracks, but didn't turn around, "Even after you die, you still don't think that's penance enough. You save countless lives, _our_ lives, and you still don't think that redeems you. You need to let it go, Owen. Regret eats you up from the inside out if you hold onto it, trust me, I know."

Owen half turned back to Jack, his eyes remaining on the ground, speaking clearly, "I will never regret opening the Rift to bring you and Tosh back to us. And Bilis would have gotten us to open the Rift for him whether we wanted to or not, I accept both those things. But that doesn't change the fact that my direct actions – ignoring Ianto, shooting you – that they caused even more of those poor people to fall through and break, to turn into those half-humans on that island. If it wasn't for me, the Rift would never have taken as many people as it has this year. I can't change that, but I can make it better."

Jack didn't answer, watching with sadness as Owen left the Hub. Even before he had died and then got brought back by the glove, Owen had changed. Jack had intensely regretted taking Owen to that island in the first place, especially so soon after Suzie's suicide – that woman had done enough damage to Owen during life, let alone with the manner of her death. He had regretted it even more as he had watched the cocky, playful young doctor he had hired turn into a rebellious, overly-sarcastic man, heading for a complete burn out.

When he had returned, Owen had been the person Jack had been most apprehensive about seeing again. The others, he could predict their reactions – Gwen would be pissed, Tosh would be quiet, and Ianto unsure, yet stubborn, as he always was. But when he had met Owen again, he had been nervous, knowing the reaction could have gone one of two ways; either he would have got a punch in the jaw and a screaming match for leaving, or Owen would have been nervous. Jack didn't know which would have been worse, but he had received neither reaction. Instead, the Owen he was faced with was quieter, but still as stubborn and cocksure around the team. He was more open and friendly, especially around Ianto and Tosh, leaving behind echoes of the Owen Jack first hired. What was the worst part of it all, however, had been the uncertain nature with which Owen had conducted himself around Jack, as if Jack would be angry with him still, even though he had never been angry to start with.

And it was then that Jack had understood. It was partly why Jack had been so desperate to bring him back; he deserved to know, he needed someone to explain to him that it hadn't been his fault. And yet, when the time had come, Jack had choked, unable tell him. Even now, when Jack had been given a second chance with Owen's strange half-life, he hadn't explained to him. He didn't know where to start, so instead, he kept a close eye on the man.

Owen's problem was guilt. He was convinced that he should be able to save everyone, and that if he didn't, then he wasn't worth anything. When Jack had returned, it had taken him a while to realise that Owen was so wary because he believed it was his fault Jack had left; one of the reasons why he had let Gwen take control instead of himself.

And now, with Gwen digging up the very thing that had changed Owen so much, it just let the guilt resurface. Jack knew that since he had returned, Owen had used the opportunity of the fifth team member to go to the island and help out more and more, honestly believing the outcome of their lives was down to his actions. Jack sighed heavily, pinching his nose; even when dead Owen managed to worry Jack sick.

Gathering his thoughts, Jack went down to the archives, needing to talk to Ianto. He grimaced when his arrival made the younger man seem to jump out of his skin, "Sir!" Ianto straightened his shirt, "Can I help you with anything?"

Jack smiled softly, "I'm not mad with you, Ianto."

The Welshman seemed to relax tentatively, "I'm sorry, Jack." He stressed the name slightly, to emphasize that he understood the truth in Jack's words, "I just thought that she needed to know. She would have kept on it until she did."

Jack stepped forwards, taking Ianto's wrist, "You understand why they're there, don't you?"

Ianto nodded, "It just doesn't seem fair."

Jack raised Ianto's chin so that their eyes met, "Maybe one day we'll find a way to truly help them, but until that time, we can only help them as far as is in our power." He reached down, and kissed the top of the younger man's head gently, "We have to hope that one day the solution will come."

Ianto studied Jack's worn face closely, before pulling him into a deep kiss, "I like hope."

Jack smiled, Ianto's almost innocent words helping to cleanse his mind. He returned the kiss, "Me too."

**FIN**

Author Notes: So, what did you think? I'd really like to know your thoughts!


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